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Human rights

Human rights

Human rights are essential to democracy and development. One of our key roles is protecting the rights of ordinary citizens and those representing them in parliament.

Democracy and development cannot flourish if human rights are not safeguarded, as clearly stated in our Universal Declaration on Democracy. Similarly, our work on the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) underscores the idea that a development agenda with people at its centre must be rooted in human rights standards.

We are guided by this rights-based approach, which underpins our efforts to help parliaments play a central role as guardians of human rights through their legislative and oversight responsibilities. We do this by protecting MPs' rights and providing them with information, knowledge and training to improve the protection and promotion of rights—including those of women, children, minorities and indigenous peoples—and help them implement recommendations of the UN Human Rights Council and UN human rights treaty bodies.

We ensure that countries, through their parliaments, sign up to Human Rights Conventions, adopt and implement relevant laws.